1) Writing as different from speaking versus writing as similar to speaking
a) Learning to write means shaking the habits learned from oral language communication, that is, from speaking.
b) Learning to write is inherently a task in constructing conversation in that writers must always confront the task of an absent interlocutor.
c) Writing as socially and culturally shaped; meaning residing not in the text, but in the interactions /transactions between reader and writer.
d) Writing as more complex than speaking. Consider the complexity of syntactic forms. Also there is much redundancy, fragmentation, and loose sequence found in oral language, but these elements and not tolerated in written texts.
e) Children who are well read to are more conversant with the features of written texts when constructing their own writing.

CULTURAL PROPENSITIES
a) Research shows that ethnically diverse students have a cultural preference for certain organizational patterns in their expository writing (Ball, 1992).
b) The spoken language characteristics of mainstream cultures are more compatible than some diverse culture characteristics for developing the kind of writing that schools value (Rickford & Rickford, 2000).
c) Ethnically diverse students have a preference for engaging with contextualized versus decontextualized questioning patterns in reading comprehension and other school-based exercises, although they are most frequently asked the latter (Heath, 1983).
d) Many diverse culture dialects use intonation rather than lexicon to convey cohesion. This propensity must be factored into any writing program designed for ethnically diverse students or students with learning disabilities, who will need extensive scaffolding and modeling in order to become successful writers.
e) Finally, research has shown that ethnically diverse students are more motivated to read and write when the literature selections that teachers make are culturally congruent (Ladson-Billings, 1995; A. Rickford, 1999).

PRACTICAL CONCERNS
a) The 1994 NAEP writing report found that spelling, punctuation and grammar exercises are emphasized more by bottom performing classes which tend to be located in urban areas with predominantly African American and other ethnically diverse students than by top-performing schools which tend to be suburban with primarily Anglo students.
b) Other independent researchers found the same thing--that bilingual and ethnic minority students are likely to receive little instruction in extended writing since they are frequently placed in skills classes that are heavily grammar-oriented (Valdes, 1992; Oakes, 1985).
c) In the upcoming sessions, writing will be viewed as a social, interactive, and constructivist enterprise involving significant peer collaboration.
d) Since assignments that specify real audiences affect writers' composing abilities more than assignments specifying imaginary audiences, students will be asked to share their work with their peers.
e) The teacher as audience is less effective because of the asymmetry of the relationship and the potential for intimidation. Therefore the teacher's role in the upcoming sessions will be largely that of a guide and facilitator to students.
f) The sessions will use graphic organizers for teaching vocabulary and concepts of narrative and expository structure as a framework for writing practice. We will focus on the rules and patterns and broader discourse features of 'model' type texts. Writing will always be interconnected with an examination and investigation of text structure and analysis.
g) Writing should be assigned as often as possible: the more students do it, the better they become at it.
h) In the context of teacher/student writing conferences, teachers should remember the need for sensitivity, encouragement, and a process-oriented approach. The teacher's red pencil can have a negative psychological effect on students.
i) Ultimately, the teacher's aim is to get the students to develop a sense of executive control with their writing and to develop a set of internal criteria for discourse schemata. The ability to develop a sense of distance from one's own writing is important. Usually students think, why, I understand perfectly well what I'm saying, so how come everyone else doesn't. This is where the concept of metacognition will be important--intuitions about what they know/understand and do not know/understand about their own writing.

Finally, here are some fundamental principles that I uphold in all my work with teachers and students in the area of literacy:

THE CONCEPT OF CRITICAL LITERACY: FOUR PRINCIPLES
(adapted from Calfee, 1990)

1. Rhetorical techniques that support critical literacy can be taught at any stage of literacy development.
2. Although students vary widely in the experiences they bring to the classroom, the potential for linguistic, cognitive, and metacognitive growth is remarkably constant for students of varying backgrounds.
3. The key to effective development of intellectual potential is the acquisition of effective organizational strategies.
4. Literacy for tomorrow's students requires them not only to read and write but also to possess an explicit understanding of how language operates for thinking and communicating.